If you have no IRC program installed or prefer not to you may use the Freenode Web Access site and any browser. You may either enter any nickname you wish but to use a Freenode registered nickname then check the box for “Auth to services” and also enter your username and password.

You may also use the normal Freenode Web Chat site and most any somewhat modern browser. You may either enter any nickname you wish but to use a Freenode registered nickname then check the box for Auth to services and also enter your username and password. There's also the secure Freenode Web Chat which sometimes doesn't stay connected as long.

When using Gaim across several networks (Yahoo, MSN, IRC, etc.) simultaneously I find the Auto-login to every network rather cumbersome. My personal preference is to set all of my accounts so I have to manually log in.

When you open Gaim, instead of selecting a specific account and then clicking the sign in button, I click the ACCOUNTS button and then place a checkmark in the ONLINE button of each account I wish to use during that Gaim session. This way you only have one instance of Gaim with several network windows, rather than 3 instances of Gaim with 1 network each.

When chatting on multiple channels, if someone types something, that channel tab text will turn red (or another color) letting you know that someone is talking there.

You may hold a private conversation with someone by double clicking their name. This opens a new window where you and that person may chat "backchannel". See rule #4 above!

Gaim and others have a nice file-sharing system called DCC. If you want/need to share a file, it is nice to open a private conversation to discuss the file, then right click the recipients name and select send file. They will only receive the file if they accept it. IT IS NEVER A GOOD IDEA TO SET YOUR DCC TO AUTO-ACCEPT.

Some channels have "bots". Bots are applications that loiter on an IRC channel to keep it open, log visitors, play trivia games with you, etc. Don't chat with them...they don't talk back. Wink Bots may be programmed to be malicious however, so be careful.

Some IRC servers parade your IP address for everyone to see by using a simple /whois command. Puppy is a nice OS in that if you have your firewall on, it appears relatively "invisible" and doesn't seem to respond to ping attempts.